Cancer, Cancer Treatment

In the December issue of European Urology Dr. Curtis Nickel and associates report on the evidence of a relationship between prostate inflammation and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men enrolled in the REDUCE trial.

The REDUCE (Reduction by DUtasteride of prostate Cancer Events) trial is a 4-year, phase-III placebo-controlled study that evaluates whether the drug dutasteride decreases the risk of biopsy-detectable prostate cancer. Dutasteride is a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor, a drug that inhibits the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that may cause benign prostatic obstruction. The trial involves men with a negative prostate biopsy. The men were given either dutasteride or a placebo and followed for 4 years.

Breast cancer is a cancer of both men and women. But in case of men, it is less common than women. Cancer grows in the cells of the breast and it develops uncontrollably and spreads to other parts of the body. If cancer occurs in cells of breast, one will feel a lump at a self-examination test. In the earlier stage, it is difficult to feel the lump and so in the intitial stage no symptoms occur. A mammogram can detect the primary symptoms of breast cancer by detecting lump of the cancer cells and differentiate the malignant tumors from benign breast conditions. Breast cancer is a metastatic disease as it can spread beyond the original organ. Bone, liver, lung and brain are the more common sites of metastasis and different symptoms occur in this stage.
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